Transcript
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Hello children. Today we will begin
reading together the fifth and final
book of the Torah, the book of Devine.
This is a very special book because it
contains the final words of Moshe before
his passing.
Moshe stood before the Jewish people in
order to tell them very important
information before they enter the land
of Israel without him. Moshe rebuked the
people for the wrongdoings they did in
the past for the sin of Baal Pahor for
showing disrespect to the mun by saying,
"We are disgusted with this rotten
bread, the rebellion of Kora, and the
sin of the golden calf. But wait, why
did Moshe rebuke them only now? So many
years passed. Why didn't he mention
anything? Moshe rebuked the people close
to his death so that it wouldn't happen
that he rebukes them and they sin again
and he would have to rebuke them once
more. In addition, every time they would
see Moshe, they would feel ashamed
before him. Yakov also rebuked his sons
only before his death. Musha didn't want
to hurt the honor of the Jewish people,
so he mentioned their sins in a gentle
way, using the names of places and hints
so as not to embarrass them. The Jewish
nation multiplied and Moshe asked to
appoint judges who could help him with
the judicial system. He instructed the
judges on how they should behave and
commanded them to conduct true justice.
Moshe added and said, "I cannot bear you
alone." But wait, could it really be
that Moshe couldn't judge all the people
by himself? After all, he is the great
leader who brought them out of Egypt.
Moshe, despite his greatness and
spiritual strength, was not able to
judge the entire Jewish nation by
himself. The people were numerous, and
there were many diverse problems and
disputes. When Moshe said, "The Lord
your God has multiplied you," he
explained that God blessed the Jewish
people and made them into a great
nation, and therefore it's impossible
for one person alone to bear the entire
burden of leadership and judgment. Moshe
said that once there are judges, the
responsibility for rulings and
punishment passes on to them. In other
words, if the judge makes a mistake, the
responsibility is no longer on the
people themselves, but on the appointed
judge. Moshe taught the people that
Jewish judges are different from the
judges of all other nations. In other
nations, if a judge commits an
injustice, it doesn't really matter. But
a Jewish judge, if he unjustly obligates
someone to pay money, he could pay with
his own life.
What kinds of judges was Moshe looking
for? Men of profound wisdom and
knowledge. Men of understanding who can
grasp one thing from another?
Distinguished men honored and recognized
by the people. Now Moshe reminds the
people of the great sin for which they
wandered in the desert for 40 years. The
sin of the spies who went to scout out
the land of Israel. And when they
returned, they spoke terrible things
about God and about the land of Israel.
Because of God's hatred for us, he
brought us out of Egypt to deliver us
into the hands of the Amorites to
destroy us. Does God, heaven forbid,
hate us? How can anyone say such a
thing? Moshe tried to encourage them.
The Lord your God who goes before you,
he will fight for you. But the people
didn't believe.
The result, God became angry with them
and punished them by decreeing that they
would not merit to enter the promised
land except for the new generation.
Yhoshua and Kith who praised the land
would also merit to enter it. After the
people realized they had made a mistake,
some of the Jews regretted falling to
the sin of the spies and decided to go
up and fight the inhabitants of the
land. But Moshe told them, "Do not go up
and do not fight, for the Lord will not
help you and you will fail." They
refused to listen to God and decided to
go out to battle. And as a result, they
lost the fight. The people were told not
to provoke the descendants of Isav,
Moave, and Ammon.
[Music]
And when they came to fight against,
king of the Amorites, Moshe did
something special. Moshe sent messengers
of peace to Sihon, king of Heshbin, and
began with words of peace. Why? Moshe
said, "Even though God did not command
me to offer peace to Sihon, I learned
from the Torah
[Music]
that when God came to give the Torah to
the Jewish nation, he offered it to Isab
and Yeshma, even though he knew they
would not accept it, and nevertheless,
he acted with them peacefully. Even God
granted peace despite knowing that the
answer would be no. Then the Torah
describes the wars against Seihon, king
of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan.
And in both battles, the Jews were
victorious because God fought on their
behalf. The portion concludes with words
of strength and encouragement to Yahosua
and to the nation. From this parshall we
learn, justice and kindness. Judges must
be righteous and trustworthy. Faith. Do
not fear, for God is with us. Peace.
Even before war, one must first seek
peace. Repentance. It is always possible
to return and correct our ways.
Preparation. Before beginning a new
mission, such as entering the land, we
must remember the lessons of the past.
Now the Jewish people stand at the
border of the land, ready to conquer the
promised land under the leadership of
Yihoswab and noon. What will happen
next? And what else will Moshe tell the
people? We'll tell you about that in the
next episode.
[Music]
